DayOne's Reviews
Abyssus ticks off every box that I want out of a cooperative FPS roguelite. It excels at none, though; once the aiming is fixed on consoles, it doesn't fail at any either.
While I’m not sure if Star Fox will convince people who aren’t into on-rails shooters to dip their toes into it, for fans of Star Fox 64, this is simply a mandatory purchase. It’s easily one of the most perfectly executed remakes ever and a great game in its own right.
In a vacuum, Dead or Alive 6 Last Round is a perfectly playable version of a perfectly fine fighter, but it’s still a somewhat underwhelming package all in all. Not quite enough improvements to reignite the interest around the base game, and also plenty of baffling limitations end up weighing a ton on the overall experience – one that only hardcore Dead or Alive fans might bother with.
House Flipper Remastered Collection is as fun as ever, and an incredible amount of content. From raising puppies to mowing the lawn, cleaning up rusty toilets, to sanding down anchors, there's nothing else quite like it.
Dark Scrolls is a title I should have loved and instead loathed. It is not offensively bad or poorly made, so you may find some fun here that I did not.
Devil May Cry 5 was great back in 2019, and it's just as good now. Getting this quality of an experience on a mobile device would have blown my mind back then. It's becoming the norm for CAPCOM's Switch 2 ports.
Thank You For Your Application is stressful fun. It will demand your attention at all times, despite its seemingly cozy nature. Quest-frustration aside, it is easy to recommend for those who love games that make 'work' fun.
Dave the Diver is a fantastic game, and In the Jungle is every bit as good. The quality and variety on offer are something few games can match.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an uneven, but ultimately satisfying title. An incredible soundtrack, solid gameplay, and, at least for me, fantastic visuals help carry it — despite the grind needed for its true conclusion.
I think Junkster is well worth a download. If you’re a fan of classic 3D Platformers, and want to play something relatively light with some surprisingly novel gameplay mechanics, I can think of worse ways to spend a weekend. Give it a shot, it might surprise you! It’s out tomorrow on Xbox and Game Pass, as well as PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Mina the Hollower was well worth the wait. It gives you all the vibes of the best old-school games, while bringing its own modern sensibilities with smartly paced exploration and tight gameplay.
With a great cast of characters, tons of imagination, and just the right amount of player agency and replayability, there is a delightful playground full of gadgetry and spycraft that players will want to return to again and again. A confident return for the Double-O program, and - sorry Goldeneye - this is, without a doubt, the best James Bond game ever made.
Echo Generation 2 is a major improvement over the first game. They’ve sanded away most of its gameplay rough edges, with only a final chapter that requires too much repetition as a standout issue. It is a gorgeous title, with fun combat and great music that is well worth a playthrough, especially if you have Game Pass.
All in all, I had a good time with Luna Abyss. It doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel, but its fast-paced yet relatively accessible bullet hell shooting makes for an interesting gameplay loop, coupled with various fun gameplay twists and great visuals. It could have been a bit more unique or daring, with some padding and replayability issues here and there, but especially as a Game Pass day one title, it’s easy to recommend shooting through the many mysteries of Luna.
Forza Horizon 6 is the best and most familiar the series has ever been. The festival’s arrival in Japan is a feast for the eyes, running incredibly well on every type of hardware I tried it on. Despite some issues with the ending grind, if you have ever enjoyed the series or thought about trying it, Forza Horizon 6 is an incredibly fun time.
Black Jacket is an addictive, well thought out and stylish gem of a game. I was very pleasantly surprised at how involved I got with the narrative, with each memory uncovered making me yearn for even more information. Overall, the developer has done an excellent job of elevating a simple game of Blackjack into something genuinely special. If you like card games, then Black Jacket should definitely be on your list of games to play this year.
There is fun to be had here for the patient, and perhaps with friends, some welcome life can be injected into the abandoned world. Right now though, it’s hard to recommend this one for the average camper.
Directive 8020 is a solid sci-fi yarn let down by some early snark-filled writing. The plot is serviceable in showing you some gorgeous locations full of people you may or may not want to save, and a bevy of monsters you’ll get bored hiding from. If you’ve enjoyed the studio’s previous work, then rest assured that Directive 8020 may well be worth checking out.
I went into Call of the Elder Gods with a little trepidation, because I’ve played quite a few narratively focused puzzle games of late, and I feared I was a little burnt out. Thankfully, it’s a worthy sequel. Call of the Elder Gods is filled with some genuinely well-designed brain teasers, and a plot that eventually had me hooked, further fuelling my desire to solve the central mystery. If you’re looking for a new puzzle game to challenge you mind, this is a call you’ll want to take.
Like a long Family Guy skit or an Asylum movie, it’s not even the quality of the humor itself – it’s the sheer audacity of coming up with this stuff and committing to it in a finished product. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a balanced, polished or ambitious videogame, but the sheer absurdity of the humor and player freedom make it a fun experience – even though the actual gameplay is pretty damn janky and repetitive.